What's inside strawberry shortcake?
by Ashi Altair
Summary: Entry for SnP's first IR contest. :


One shot IR fan fiction. Entry for SnP's (soulsnpirates) first IchiRuki contest. Yay!

There's another copy of this fic Crazy Apple's livejournal account. So don't get wild if you see two fics like this. :)

Warning: This is a product of boredom due to internet connection loss for an entire day. T-T

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What's inside strawberry shortcake?**

Kurosaki Ichigo is not the type of person to accept a dare from his classmates. If it is from Byakuya or from any other person from Seireitei, he would gladly accept it—he might even start the provocation if it's about the stone-faced Kuchiki and the red pineapple. So, what's happening was definitely out of his character.

Why did he agree on this anyways?

Ichigo grunted. Was it Chad? No, certainly not him. Despite the years they've known each other, Ichigo only heard him speak long sentences a few times. So, making him agree with this condition is an impossible act for Chad.

What about Mizuiro? Nah… Even if he's always in for these kinds of things, he knows that Ichigo hates them. And he's not as annoying as Keigo.

And even if Keigo is the most annoying person he's ever met—Kon is not a human, Ichigo would say—he has built a shield against Keigo's antics. He's immune to them already. No effect at all.

If not one of the three of them, then who was it that made him feel that he must do it no matter what? He thought back once again: not Chad, not Mizuiro, not Keigo; not Mizuiro, not Keigo, not Chad; not Keigo, not Chad, not Mizuiro; not Mizuiro, not Chad, not Keigo; not Keigo, not Mizuiro, not Chad...

Ichigo scratched his head and scowled deeper. Who was it?

"Ahem."

The earth is calling Ichigo back.

"Kurosaki."

Ichigo looked at his right side. It was Uryuu.

"How long are you planning to space out?" he asked.

The moment Ichigo recognized Uryuu's voice, everything clicked. It was Ishida Uryuu. He was the culprit all along. _Keh_, Ichigo thought. So what if he forgot about Uryuu? It's not Ichigo's fault that his existence is so small that only a few people remember him.

"I'm not spacing out," Ichigo said. "I was just thinking."

"It's a surprise," he said. "I thought your brain only works when adrenaline rushes in."

"Shut up. Why don't you just go straight to the point?"

Uryuu cleared his throat. "Because the tip of the bottle pointed at you, you must do the dare that—."

"Enough!" he hissed. Spin-the-bottle was Keigo's idea. Ichigo just joined because of the lack of things to do and to make Keigo shut up. He didn't expect that this would be happening. Why should Uryuu be the one? Why not just Chad? "I know that already!" he said.

"Fine," Uryuu muttered. "Confess to Kuchiki-san."

Ichigo stared. "Confess?"

"Yes."

"What should I confess to her? I didn't do anything."

"That's not what I'm talking about." He glanced at Keigo and Mizuiro. They were teeming with excitement.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you still get it, Ichigo?" Chad asked.

"Glasses-kun wants you to confess your love to Rukia-chan!" Keigo said.

Uryuu's complaint about him being called 'Glasses-kun' was subdued by Ichigo's 'WHAT?

Ichigo pointed his finger at Uryuu. "I wouldn't do that!"

"Why?" Uryuu asked with a smirk. "Don't you like her?"

"It's not about that!" he said. "What if Byakuya finds out about this? He would kill me!"

"Oh?"

"Is it just me or did Ichigo indirectly say that he likes Kuchiki-san?" Mizuiro mused out loud. Talk about acting.

And they heard a slam on the table with Ichigo towering above them, smoke emanating out his nose. "I did not!" he shouted.

Everyone remaining in their classroom watched as Ichigo changed color. Uryuu made him sit down. He wants this little entertainment to be his only.

"Calm down, Kurosaki," he said. "I'm not saying that you really like her. It's just a dare, remember? All you have to do is tell Kuchiki-san that you like her while we're watching you do it—of course, we must be hiding. And then, let a few seconds pass and tell her it was just a joke—that it was just a dare. No harm done. The end. I'm sure Kuchiki-san would understand."

Ichigo thought for a while. It's true; Rukia is an understanding person. She would understand, right? Also, Rukia doesn't know anything about love confessions. He'll just tell her that it's one of the modern society's jokes. So, he's safe.

BUT. What would he tell her? He only said 'I love you' to one person; and that is his mother. It's been a long time. He has forgotten how it goes. And, there's this feeling that makes him very nervous. It's like Byakuya is watching him from above, ready to unleash his pink flowers to slaughter him. It makes Byakuya seem like a god, and he hates it.

So, choosing between telling Rukia that it was just a joke and Byakuya's pink flowers, the heavier one is, of course, the attacking petals. Ichigo doesn't want to die because of flowers.

"No," Ichigo finally said. "I'm still not going to do it."

Keigo withered like a plant. Chad just nodded, while Mizuiro looked at Uryuu.

"Is that so?" Uryuu said. "Then, I have no choice but tell Asano-san where Kuchiki-san lives."

Keigo sparkled the moment he heard about this. "Yoush!" he said.

"Isn't that great, Keigo?" Mizuiro said.

Keigo nodded. "Yeah, yeah. At last! At last I can visit Kuchiki-san every night! I can ask her help in the homework, in my personal life, social life, and love life!" He wiped his tears off his eyes. "Thank you, Ichigo! Thank you, Glasses-kun! I never thought you're Kami-sama's blessing! Well then, it's decided! Ichigo is not doing the dare so I get to know where Kuchiki-san lives!"

Ichigo stood up and searched the class. "Damn you, Uryuu," he muttered. He glared at Uryuu and cursed him mentally for a hundred times. Evil. That's what he is. He won't let Keigo know where Rukia stays, ever. "I'm going to do it."

He marched towards Rukia, who was at that time chatting with their other classmates, then grabbed her arm and dragged her outside the room. _Just get on with it,_ he thought.

"Let's talk."

"Ichigo!" Rukia hissed. She looked back at their classmates and murmured, "Sorry" before letting herself be totally get dragged out of the classroom. Ichigo is surely going to have a beating as soon as nobody's around.

And that's what happened. As soon as Ichigo released Rukia's arms, he got the beating that he deserved.

"Oi! What's that for?"

"It's not your place to ask me, you cretin!" she responded. "Don't drag people just because you felt like wanting to annoy! Have you lost your mind?"

"If you're just going to insult my brain, shut up."

And she did. She glared—she glared and grunted, which is not good for Ichigo.

"Way to go, Kurosaki," Uryuu muttered from their hiding place.

As if sensing what Uryuu said, Ichigo finally remembered his main point of doing this, which, again, made him nervous. Open space (rooftop) means poor defense against flying petals. And an angry Rukia means worse than Chappy Closet-Domination.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Rukia's glare disappeared and waited for Ichigo's next words. She'd let it pass this time since before, it was she, who always dragged Ichigo out—though she knows that killing Hollows and protecting souls were far more important than Ichigo's reason for dragging her earlier.

"I, uhm…" If only Uryuu wasn't watching, he could've done the easier way, which is to lie to him, which is actually easier than lying to Rukia. But, he didn't really need to lie, right? Ichigo inwardly beamed. All he had to do is play with words. That way, he wouldn't be lying to her. Nice.

"…need to tell you something," he continued. "It's something personal so… I wanted us to be alone." That caught Rukia's attention. Something personal means something important. It's rare for Ichigo to tell her what he feels. She wants him to do it once in a while even if he doesn't have to.

"I… about you…" Ichigo gulped. He can't help but look at her violet magnets. "Rukia, I like you." He closed his eyes shut and gulped once again.

"Ah." He heard her say. "Is that so?" He still didn't want to look. "Then, it's going to be a problem," Rukia finally said. Ichigo looked at her.

"What?" Rukia looked problematic. She was scowling, as if thinking so hard. Then, Ichigo decided that it was the right time. "_Uso_." Rukia blinked at him. "It was just a joke Rukia."

Rukia frowned and then looked at Ichigo once again. "It was just… a lie?" Her words seemed poignant… distant. Ichigo slapped himself inwardly. He knew it. He knew he shouldn't have lied to her.

"But…" She looked down. "I like you…too. It's not about liking and disliking someone. It's… you know it already, don't you, orange-head? Don't make me say it again."

Ichigo can see the shock in Uryuu's eyes. It was clear that he didn't ask Rukia to play jokes on him. So, this must be true. Rukia likes him. Ha-ha—. Wait. Did he just laugh? Was he happy that Rukia likes him? That can't be, right? He looked back at Rukia. He didn't know what to say, or how to react.

"Hey, stop spacing out, you idiot," Rukia snapped. Ichigo scowled. She said she likes him but now, she's calling him an idiot?

"Eh?"

She tiptoed so that her face is near Ichigo's. "_U-so da yo, Ku-ro-sa-ki-kun._" Rukia smirked. Oh yes, this is so fun. "You still don't get it? I said—."

"I get it, witch," he retorted.

"Disappointed?" Rukia asked. Another point for Miss Kuchiki.

"Who made you do this?" Ichigo asked instead of answering.

"Chizuru," she answered. "She's a little bit irritating at times. I just had to do it. How about you? Was it Uryuu?"

"Yeah."

Rukia smiled and Ichigo just couldn't help but smile back. She knows that Ichigo understands. They know which of what had been said was the truth.

It was just the two of them.

Even so, she was contented.

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REVIEWS are appreciated even if the contest is already over and the verdict has been given.

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